The Sausage Bar Romance
On May 3rd, the Sausuge Bar finally opened on the dam. The county canal flows into the Danube here, in the summer, they come here to bathe from the nearby apartment complex, although officially prohibited. The owner is Russian, he has lived here for thirty years, and still speaks broken Hungarian, but you wouldn’t tell if you only tasted his meatloaf. The store is slowly being taken over by his son, Todor Monotonov. He was also behind the counter on an opening day.
He graduated from high school two years ago, but he had to put off college because of the family business. He doesn’t regret it, and says that he likes working with his hands. On the day of the opening, he was wearing a red t-shirt that said “I ♥ NY” in white letters. The store is small, the ketchup is homemade. The customers are mostly construction workers from the dam. They keep their yellow hard hats on the table. There are also a few old ladies and a young couple with a small child.
Eva Gilli-Galla didn’t fit the scene. She was wearing a dress and high heels, and her hair was carefully styled. She had come all the way from Budapest for the opening. She works for the company that owns the apartment complex. She was reluctant to order anything, saying that she didn’t want to get her dress dirty. In the end, she ordered a Coke Zero.
It was easy for Todor to fall in love with her. He didn’t care she was older than him. He started working extra shifts, just to have a chance to talk to her. He would wait for her at the bus stop and carry her bags. Eventually, they started dating and on June 10th Todor mustered up the courage to ask her to marry him.
Eva said yes, and they were married on July 7th, in a small ceremony at the dam. The sausage bar was closed for the day, and the guests were mostly construction workers. The bride wore a white dress, and the groom wore a black t-shirt with the same “I ♥ NY” logo.
After the wedding, they moved into Eva’s apartment in Budapest. Todor quit his job at the sausage bar and started working at the apartment complex. He still misses the dam, but he says that he loves Eva more than anything.
